Barcelona winger Raphinha has given his reaction after Chelsea slumped to an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Leeds United at the weekend.
The Blues were condemned to their first defeat of the season at Elland Road as a horror first-half and goals from Brenden Aaronson and Rodrigo saw them 2-0 down at the break. It then went from bad to worse for Thomas Tuchel ’s men with Jack Harrison getting his name on the scoresheet before summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off for two bookable offences.
Raphinha could potentially have been taking part in the game for either team, with the Brazilian of course having starred previously for Leeds, whilst he was also a transfer target for Chelsea this summer.
He elected not to move to Stamford Bridge though, having chosen to pursue a move to Barcelona instead. The winger rubbed salt into the wounds after Chelsea’s reverse at Elland Road with his social media activity.
After playing a key role in the victory, Rodrigo took to Instagram with his thoughts on the game. He wrote: “What an atmosphere! What a performance! What a team!!……Proud and happy! Let’s keep going!”
Raphinha then commented on his post with a simple reply of “Rodrigooooool” accompanied by a heart eyes emoji.
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Despite having been linked with a switch to Chelsea throughout large swaths of the summer, the Brazilian winger said that his move to the Nou Camp was a dream.
Speaking to BarcaTV shortly after his £55m move to Spain was confirmed, the 25-year-old said: “This is a dream come true for me, not just for me also my friends and family.
“They’ve seen me playing since I was a kid. They knew this was a dream of mine to come here. All I can do now is give my best and try to help Barca be what it’s always been.”
Since becoming a Barcelona player, Raphinha is yet to contribute to a goal. He has thus far made two appearances - starting their opening game of the season against Rayo Vallecano, whilst he also started on the bench for the 4-1 victory against Real Sociedad.
Despite losing out on Raphinha, the Blues still elected to bolster their wide options with the signing of Raheem Sterling from Manchester City. They have decided to strengthen their defensive options since with the acquisitions of Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella from Napoli and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively.
They are also continuing to chase Leicester star Wesley Fofana. The Blues have had two bids rejected for the young Frenchman so far and he was left out of the Foxes’ squad for the defeat at home to Southampton at the weekend.
